English Language Arts Standards » Summer Reading Project
CCSS
Summer
Reading Project
Exceeds Standard
A
Standard
B
C
D
Synthesize, Critique, Create,
Analyze, Design, Connect, or
Prove
Assess, Evaluate, Differentiate,
Revise, Formulate, Investigate or
Cite Evidence
Analyze, Explain, Infer,
Organize, Estimate, Summarize,
Construct or Predict
Define, Describe, Identify,
Recognize, Tabulate, Measure,
Quote or Calculate
Student is working to show
an in-depth understanding
of elements such as plot,
character, setting, mood,
theme, etc.
Student attempts, but has
difficulty making
connections between the
book and project.
Student understands the
elements o f the assignment:
•
Read an approved book
from the list provided.
•
Complete one of the six
assignments
o Minimum of one
page typed
showing an indepth
understanding of
elements such as
plot, character,
setting, mood, etc.
o Times New Roman
o 12 pt font
•
Writes a one page
reflection
o Minimum of one
page typed
o Times New Roman
o 12 pt font
Assignment is free from
errors, shows critical
thinking and analysis and is
at a publishable level.
Project:
Student shows an in-depth
understanding of plot, character,
setting, mood and/or theme;
Student makes strong connections
between reading project and the
book; Student writes consistently
within the author’s style.
Reflection:
Student provides a clear
explanation of how the project
was developed including thought
process along the way; Student
discusses choice of the format and
why it was the best one to
demonstrate knowledge of a
particular book.
Language Conventions:
Student includes proper spelling,
punctuation, and sentence
structure; project appears
carefully proofread and edited.
Student is working provide a
clear explanation of how the
project developed and/or an
explanation of project
format, though some parts
may be unclear.
Student is working to master
conventions such as spelling,
punctuation, and sentence
structure. More editing is
necessary.
F
Assignment is not turned
in.
Assignment is not typed.
Assignment is plagiarized.
This project is due on August 21, 2013 to your reading teacher.
It will be counted for a grade!
Inlet Grove Community High School
2013 Summer Reading Project (required)
1. Read one of the books on the attached list.
2. Complete one of the projects listed below.
3. After completing one of the assignments, take a step back and explain your work by writing a
one-page reflection that explains why you selected this particular way to represent your ideas and
tells about the writing process you went through. Think about the following questions in your
critique:
• Why did I choose this particular book & project (Why is it the best choice to represent my
knowledge of the elements of the novel or information presented?)
• In what ways does my project reflect my book’s (setting, theme, character, plot, mood,
information; etc…)?
Completed assignments are due to your new reading teacher by August 21, 2013.
All assignments must be typed in Times New Roman size 12 font & double spaced!
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Create a childhood for a character. If your main character is an adult, try to figure out what
he/she would have been like as a child. Write the one-page story of his/her childhood in such a
way that shows why he/she is the way he/she is in the novel.
2. Write a eulogy for one of the characters. Imagine that you have to speak at the funeral
of one of the characters in your novel. Include life-time experiences, accomplishments, a
quote or poem, loved ones’ feelings, etc.
3. Incorporate a character from another literary work into this work. Write a chapter
showing the actions of the imported character and the interactions between the two
characters. Make sure to demonstrate synthesis and consistency of characterization (in
both works).
4. Chat room conversations. Imagine that your character has found other people to talk
with while in a chat room he/she found while surfing the Internet. Construct the
conversation your character had with others while in the chat room.
• In your reflection, make sure to describe the chat room your character was in and
why your character would be drawn to the kind of group that operates the chat
room.
5. Write an additional chapter for your book. This will give you control over the ending,
beginning or middle if you did not like the original. Imitate the author’s style.
6. Write a job recommendation for the main character. For what kind of job would the
character be most qualified? What are his or her outstanding personal traits or
characteristics? What makes you think he/she possesses these traits? Write a resume and
a letter of application for your character.
Summer Reading Project: Book List
Deuker: Gym Candy c2007 fiction, sports
Groomed by his father to be a star player, football is the only thing that has
ever really mattered to Mick Johnson, who works hard for a spot on the
varsity team his freshman year, then tries to hold onto his edge by using
steroids, despite the consequences to his health and social life.
Forman: If I Stay c2009 realistic fiction
While in a coma following an automobile accident that killed her parents and
younger brother, seventeen-year-old Mia, a gifted cellist, weights whether to
live with her grief or join her family in death.
Johnson: The First Part Last c2003 realistic fiction
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and
must care for his adored baby daughter.
Krakauer: Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest
Disaster c1998 nonfiction
The author describes his spring 1996 trek to Mt. Everest, a disastrous
expedition that claimed the lives of eight climbers, and explains why he
survived.
Strasser: Boot Camp c2007 fiction
After ignoring several warnings to stop dating his teacher, Garrett is sent
to Lake Harmony, a boot camp that uses unorthodox and brutal methods
to train students to obey their parents.
Alexie: Flight c2007 fiction
A teenager in a new foster home wrestles with the anger and injustice of his own
situation and contemplates violence before taking a jolting time travel journey to
examine the conquest of Native Americans and the consequences of hatred from
various viewpoints.
Anderson, Laurie Halse: Twisted c2007 realistic fiction
After finally getting noticed by someone other than school bullies and his
ever-angry father, seventeen-year-old Tyler enjoys his tough new reputation
and the attentions of a popular girl, but when life starts to go bad again, he
must choose between transforming himself or giving in to his destructive thoughts.
Anderson: Feed c2002 science fiction
People in this futuristic society constantly receive information and
commercials from computers implanted in their brains at birth. The story
criticizes our consumer-driven society.
Bissinger: Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a
Dream c2000 nonfiction
The story of a high school football team in Texas and their struggle to win
the championship in 1988.
Booth: Tyrell c2007 urban fiction
Fifteen-year-old Tyrell, who is living in a Bronx homeless shelter with his
spaced-out mother and his younger brother, tries to avoid temptation so he
does not end up in jail like his father.
Bray: A Great and Terrible Beauty c2004 historical fiction, fantasy
Gothic with a touch of the occult and light horror, Bray creates an
adolescent heroine with present day sensibilities. The novel also
provides a strong depiction of the role of women in Victorian times.
Donoghue: Room: A Novel c2010 fiction
A 5-year-old narrates a story about his life growing up in a single
room where his mother aims to protect him from the man who has
held her prisoner for seven years since she was a teenager.
Draper: November Blues c2007 realistic fiction
Shortly after her boyfriend Josh is killed in a pledging accident, November
Nelson learns she is pregnant and fears she has no one to turn to, until she
finds solace in the arms of Josh's cousin Jericho.
Hillman: I Will Plant You a Lilac Tree: A Memoir of a Schindler's List
Survivor c2005 nonfiction
The author tells of her experiences in eight concentrations camps as a young
Jewish woman in World War II Germany, and shares the story of how she
and her husband met and fell in love in spite of their situation, and how they were
saved by being put on the list to work at Oskar Schindler's factory.
Huxley: Brave New World c1932 science fiction
A satirical novel about the utopia of the future, a world in which babies are
decanted from bottles and the great Ford is worshipped.
Brooks: True Confessions of a Heartless Girl c2003 realistic fiction
A confused seventeen-year-old girl, a single mother and her young
son, two elderly women and a lonely man come together to form a
community in a small Manitoba town.
Foer: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel c2005 fiction
Follows nine-year-old Oskar Schell as he encounters a number of
interesting characters in his search for information about his father
who died in the World Trade Tower and tries to find the lock that fits
the mysterious key his father had.
Gladwell: Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big
Difference c2000 nonfiction
Explains why major changes in society often happen suddenly and
unexpectedly and describes the personality types who are natural originators
of new ideas and trends.
Larson: The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the
Fair that Changed America c2003 nonfiction
Tells the parallel stories of Daniel Burnham, the main architect of the 1893
Chicago World's Fair, and serial killer Henry H. Holmes, discussing the
challenges Burnham faced in creating the hugely successful White City, and
looking at how Holmes used the opportunities afforded by the fair to lure victims to
their deaths.
Levitt and Dubmer: Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the
Hidden Side of Everything c2005 nonfiction
The authors explore the economics of real-world issues often viewed as
insignificant, such as the extent to which the Roe v. Wade decision affected
violent crime, and examine hidden incentives behind all sorts of human
behavior.
Matheson: I Am Legend c1954 fiction
A lone human survivor in a world that is overrun by vampires, Robert
Neville leads a desperate life in which he must barricade himself in his home
every night and hunt down the starving undead by day.
Roth: The Plot Against America c2004 fiction
A novel that imagines what might have happened in America, particularly to
one Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey, had Charles Lindbergh won the
1940 presidential election rather than Franklin Roosevelt and acted upon his
anti-Semitic leanings.
Spiegelman: Maus I & II: A Survivor's Tale c1991 nonfiction,
graphic format
Memoir about Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's
Europe, and about his son, a cartoonist who tries to come to terms
with his father, his story, and with history itself. Cartoon format portrays Jews as mice
and Nazis as cats..
Alexie: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven c2005 short
stories
This book contains a collection of twenty-four short stories that chronicle the
daily life on a Native American Indian Reservation on Spokane,
Washington.
Picoult: Nineteen Minutes c2007 fiction
How does someone who was known to be so sensitive grow up to shoot
29 people in a high school? This is that high school’s story.
Schlosser: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American
Meal c2005 nonfiction
Traces the history of the fast food industry and discusses how it arose in
postwar America.
Sebold: The Lovely Bones c2002 fiction
Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon, the victim of a sexual assault and murder,
looks on from the afterlife as her family deals with their grief, and waits for
her killer to be brought to some type of justice.
Walker: The Color Purple c1982 fiction
The life stories of two African-American sisters, one an African missionary,
the other an unhappy wife in the South, is communicated through their letters.
Bick, Ilsa J. Ashes. 2011.
Author Ilsa J. Bick crafts a terrifying and thrilling novel
about a world that could be ours at any moment, where
those left standing must learn what it means not just to
survive, but to live amidst the devastation.
Dowell, Frances O'Roark. Ten miles past normal. c2011.
Janie Gorman is smart and creative and a little bit funky…but what she
really wants to be is normal. Because living on an isolated farm with
her modern-hippy parents is decidedly not normal, no matter how
delicious the goat cheese. High school gives Janie the chance to
prove to her suburban peers that she’s just like them, but before
long she realizes normal is completely overrated, and pretty dull.
• Gagnon, Michelle, Don't turn around. c2012.
Sixteen-year-old Noa has been a victim of the system ever since her parents died. Now
living off the grid and trusting no one, she uses her hacking skills to stay anonymous and
alone. But when she wakes up on a table in a warehouse with an IV in her arm and no
memory of how she got there, Noa starts to wish she had someone on her side.
Green, John, The fault in our stars. c2012.
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel
has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But
when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid
Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
Hartman, Rachel. Seraphina. 2012.
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and
dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape,
dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical
minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws
near, however, tensions are high.
King, A. S., (Amy Sarig), Everybody sees the ants.2011.
Lucky Linderman didn't ask for his life. He didn't ask his grandfather not to come
home from the Vietnam War. He didn't ask for a father who never got over it. He
didn't ask for a mother who keeps pretending their dysfunctional family is fine. And
he didn't ask to be the target of Nader McMillan's relentless bullying, which has finally
gone too far.
But Lucky has a secret--one that helps him wade through the daily mundane torture
of his life. In his dreams, Lucky escapes to the war-ridden jungles of Laos--the prison
his grandfather couldn't escape--where Lucky can be a real man, an adventurer, and
a hero. It's dangerous and wild, and it's a place where his life just might be worth
living. But how long can Lucky keep hiding in his dreams before reality forces its way
inside?
• Levithan, David. Every day. 2012.
In his New York Times bestselling novel, David Levithan introduces readers to
what Entertainment Weeklycalls a "wise, wildly unique" love story about A, a teen
who wakes up every morning in a different body, living a different life.
• Martinez, Jessica. Virtuosity. 2011.
Now is not the time for Carmen to fall in love. And Jeremy is hands-down the wrong guy for
her to fall for. He is infuriating, arrogant, and the only person who can stand in the way of
Carmen getting the one thing she wants most: to win the prestigious Guarneri competition.
Carmen’s whole life is violin, and until she met Jeremy, her whole focus was winning. But what
if Jeremy isn’t just hot…what if Jeremy is better?
• Odell, Jonathan, The healing : a novelc2012.
Plantation mistress Amanda Satterfield’s intense grief over losing her daughter crosses the
line into madness when she takes a newborn slave child as her own and names
her Granada. Troubled by his wife’s disturbing mental state and concerned about a
mysterious plague that is sweeping through the plantation’s slave quarters, Master
Satterfield purchases Polly Shine, a slave woman known as a healer who immediately
senses a spark of the same gift in Granada. Soon, a domestic battle of wills begins,
leading to a tragedy that weaves together three generations of strong Southern women.
Price, Lissa. Starters. c2012.
In the future, teens rent their bodies to seniors who want to be young again. One girl
discovers her renter plans to do more than party--her body will commit murder, if her mind
can't stop it. Sixteen-year-old Callie lost her parents when the genocide spore wiped out
everyone except those who were vaccinated first--the very young and very old. With no
grandparents to claim Callie and her little brother, they go on the run, living as squatters,
and fighting off unclaimed renegades who would kill for a cookie. Hope comes via Prime
Destinations, run by a mysterious figure known only as The Old Man. He hires teens to rent
their bodies to seniors, known as enders, who get to be young again. Callie's neurochip
malfunctions and she wakes up in the life of her rich renter, living in her mansion, driving
her cars, even dating Blake, the grandson of a senator. It's a fairy-tale new life . . . until she
uncovers the Body Bank's horrible plan. . . .
Rodriguez, Gaby. The pregnancy project : a memoir. c2012.
Gaby’s story is vividly told with a strong voice and a great story arc that begins with her
parents and ends with a call to other teens and adults to stop the cycle of teen pregnancy,
motherhood and poverty.
St. John, Warren. Outcasts united : the story of a refugee soccer team that
changed a town. c2012.
The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small
American town
Stevenson, Sarah Jamila. The Latte Rebellion. c2011.
Hoping to raise money for a post-graduation trip to London, Asha Jamison and her best
friend Carey decide to sell T-shirts promoting the Latte Rebellion, a club that raises
awareness of mixed-race students.
But seemingly overnight, their "cause" goes viral and the T-shirts become a nationwide social
movement. As new chapters spring up from coast to coast, Asha realizes that her simple
marketing plan has taken on a life of its own—and it's starting to ruin hers. Asha's oncestellar grades begin to slip, threatening her Ivy League dreams, while her friendship with
Carey hangs by a thread. And when the peaceful underground movement spins out of
control, Asha's school launches a disciplinary hearing. Facing expulsion, Asha must decide
how much she's willing to risk for something she truly believes in.
Stiefvater, Maggie,The Raven Boys. 2012.
It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk
past. Blue herself never sees them-not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and
speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local
private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys,
they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He has it all-family money,
good looks, devoted friends-but he's looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that
has encompassed three other Raven Boys:
• Vaughn, Carrie. Steel. c2011.
A mysterious broken sword transports a modern teen through time to the deck of a pirate
ship. Stranded in the past, and surrounded by strangers, she is forced to sign on as crew.
But a pirate's life is bloody and brief, and as she learns about the dark magic that brought
her there, she forms a desperate scheme to get home—one that risks everything in a duel
to the death with a villainous pirate captain!